Anger Statistics

Key findings from the report are:

• GPs report that they have few options for helping patients who come to them with problem anger.
• There are some good examples of NHS-funded anger management courses and others being run by voluntary organisations, as well as private sector providers.
• Where NHS services do not exist GPs can refer people to voluntary sector providers and others, but often aren’t confident to do so.
• There are approximately 50 published research studies that have tested some kind of intervention for anger problems with adults and another 40 relating to children or adolescents, and researchers have concluded that successful treatments exist for adults, adolescents and children.
• Almost a third of people polled (32%) say they have a close friend or family member who has trouble controlling their anger.
• More than one in ten (12%) say that they have trouble controlling their own anger.
• More than one in four people (28%) say that they worry about how angry they sometimes feel.
• One in five of people (20%) say that they have ended a relationship or friendship with someone because of how they behaved when they were angry.
• 64% either strongly agree or agree that people in general are getting angrier.
• Fewer than one in seven (13%) of those people who say they have trouble controlling their anger have sought help for their anger problems.
• 58% of people wouldn’t know where to seek help if they needed help with an anger problem.
• 84% strongly agree or agree that people should be encouraged to seek help if they have problems with anger.
• Those who have sought help were most likely to do so from a health professional (such as a counsellor, therapist, GP or nurse), rather than from friends and family, social workers, employers or voluntary organisations.
• Generational differences are striking. Older people are less likely to report having a close friend or family member with an anger problem or to be worried about how angry they sometimes feel or that they have trouble dealing with their own anger, than younger people.
• There are striking regional differences in responses to our anger polling – especially between Scotland and other parts of the UK.

• 85% annoyed with people who do not turn off mobile phones during meetings
• 75% complain people don’t load the photocopier/fax/printer when empty, or jam it and leave it for the next person to fix ·
• 60% are irritated by people who spend their day gossiping or spreading rumours
• 50% dislike colleagues talking loudly in the office, often about their private lives ·
• 50% hate people taking stationery from their desk and not returning it ·
• 40% dislike petty selfishness [making coffee without offering colleagues one, etc]
• 30% complain about colleagues’ untidiness in the kitchen and rancid milk
• 25% hate people who loiter by their desk when they are using the telephone
• 20% frustrated by colleagues’ increasing lack of personal interaction in work
• 20% dislike colleagues who look depressed all the time. [The Times Sep 1999]
• 64% of office workers have experienced office rage [Monster.co.uk 2000]
• 45% staff regularly lose their temper at work [risk managers Smithson Mason Gp]

• 50% of Britons have reacted to problems with their computer by either abusing colleagues, hitting the computer, screaming, shouting or hurling parts of the PC.
• 30% have witnessed physical attacks on computers. [Symantec/NOP 2000]
• Half of workers are frustrated by the time taken to solve IT problems
• 40% say computer jargon makes the frustration worse
• 25% of under 25s admitted to kicking their PCs in PC rage
• 1 in 6 under 25s feel like taking IT aggression out on someone/thing else
• 62% say their colleagues regularly swear at their PCs out of frustration
• 1 in 5 people reacted to computer problems with PC Rage
• 20% more swore at the computer
• 54% blamed it on their software
• 44% experienced some sort of emotional reaction to their computer problems
• Of the PC rage 20%,
• 71% walked away in frustration
• 62% swore or screamed at their computer
• 22% hit the computer but caused no damage
• 7% hit the computer and damaged it [Compaq 2000]
• 53% of network managers say PC problems trigger violence from users.
• 19% result in a broken keyboard
• 17 % a shattered monitor
• 17 % mouse
• 4 % kicked the hard drive n[From RMI)
• 1 in 4 office workers admit attacking their computer in some form – often the result of ‘Inbox Tyranny’. One ripped his computer out and dumped it in a skip. [Novatech – Jun 01]
• Office workers will have to spend 4 hrs a day opening/replying to emails by 2002.
• This year the number of emails is up 50% [Ferraris Research 2000]
• Technology is above domestic relationships as a cause of stress (20% to 19%) [International Stress Management Assoc.]
• Marketing email will increase 40 fold by 2006 [Jupiter analysis Jun 01]

• Britain is the top road rage country out of 16 European countries
• British drivers are the first to resort to making rude gestures to vent their anger.
• Britain had 80.4% of drivers claiming to have been involved in road rage, in Holland 78.1%; Greece 76.6%; France 70% and Germany 69.8%. [Gallup]
• 90% of drivers have experienced road rage.
• 60% admitted to losing their temper behind the wheel.
• 62% said aggressive tailgating was most common form
• 59% headlight flashing
• 48% obscene gestures
• 21% deliberate obstruction
• 16% verbal abuse
• 1% physical assault [AA 1995]
• 1 in 4 adults have committed an act of road rage.
• Men are 3 times more likely to commit an aggressive act than women.
• 1 in 5 acts involved intimidating driving, 61% verbal abuse, 50% aggressive hand gestures
• 30% of aggression is perpetuated by people in the 25-34 age group.
• 13 out of 1000 people were physically attacked and 24 had their vehicles attacked. A follow up in 1998 found 84% believe the problem is getting worse.
• 50% of drivers have been victims of road rage [RAC 2000]
• 10mph is ave. traffic speed in London – 2 mph less than 1945. [Teleg Oct ‘00)

• • 40% driving more aggressively
• • 22% make angry expressions
• • 15% mutter under breath
• • 14% hit something in the car
• • 5% obscene gestures
• • 3% bump the car causing the anger
• • Only 1 in 140 said they’d do nothing